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'A lot of blood:' child witness recounts night of alleged attack in Mantla murder case

The daughter of a woman who survived an alleged attack from the man accused of murdering her mother's boyfriend told court Friday she remembers waking to screams from her mother before finding her laying in a nearby hallway on the night of Sept. 27, 2015.

"A lot of blood was on the floor and wall," the 11 year old said, testifying via video before NWT Supreme Court and Judge Louise Charbonneau Friday afternoon.

Her statements Friday marked the third day of witness testimony in the Crown's case against Kevin Mantla, 36, who is charged with murdering Elvis Lafferty and attempting to murder the witness' mother, whose identity is protected by a publication ban.

Brendan Burke/NNSL photo
Kevin Mantla enters the Yellowknife courthouse on Jan. 12.

The witness' statements followed testimony from her sister -- who was also present at a Lanky Court apartment in Yellowknife the night the attack is alleged to have occurred -- earlier that morning.  On Thursday, their mother also testified.

The identities of both child witnesses are also protected by a publication ban.

The trial began Wednesday with testimony from two police officers and two firefighters, all of who attended the scene of the incident in 2015.

The witness, appearing via video but in a separate room in the Yellowknife courthouse, said she saw Mantla holding a knife, and that her mother had been cut in the back, chest and arms.

When asked whether or not the person holding the knife that night could have been someone other than Mantla, the witness said no.

"It was him," she said confidently.

The witness said she asked Mantla what he was doing, to which he replied, "she's cheating on me."

The court heard Mantla, who had been in a relationship with the mother, once lived with the witness and her siblings.

The trial, which will see 31 witnesses take the stand, will resume on Monday. Testimony is expected to conclude on Feb. 8, followed by arguments from Crown prosecutor Blair McPherson and Mantla's defence Charles Davison.